Happy April Dear Friend,
Have you ever wondered what it looks like for our homemaking to be a picture of the gospel to our families and the watching world? I know I'm not the only one pondering this, and I'd love to share a few thoughts on my heart on this topic.
If we are in Christ and have come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through repentance and faith, then it should have a transformative effect on every aspect of our lives, especially beginning with how we live that out within our own homes.
We're called as Christians to die to self:
Mark 8:34
"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
And to live for God:
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
The
gospel is the life of Jesus being lived out in His disciples.
In Philippians 3:8-9, Paul proclaims the gospel's centrality to all of life:
I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ …
We now have a righteous standing before God. We've been declared not guilty before Him. Not a self-righteousness but a Christ-righteousness - solely based on faith alone.
Living out the gospel in our homemaking shows a picture of where our confidence lies; it's in Jesus who is our only hope.
Philippians 3:10-11 continues:
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
This picture of the gospel is lived out as we serve our families with an attitude of gratitude, giving thanks to the Lord in and through all things.
It's lived out by a woman who extends grace, kindness, and hospitality to those inside and outside her home.
Its picture is lived out as we love others sacrificially as we've been loved and shown how to love and equipped to love in Christ.
1 John 3:16 tells us:
"We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives …"
This goes against the "it's all about me culture" of today.
It's lived out as we forgive much as we've been forgiven much, and we are living lives of repentance before the Lord and our families.
We continually remove the log from our own eye before we remove the speck from others.
We extend much grace to one another and respond with mercy and gentleness toward one another, even in hard situations.
In closing these thoughts, I want to share a good reminder Elisabeth Elliot gave us:
“Does God ask us to do what is beneath us? This question will never trouble us again if we consider the Lord of Heaven taking a towel and washing feet.”
As we serve and love others, I pray we will do it with a heart of self-forgetfulness. Keeping our eyes on Christ and loving others as He has loved us.
Much Love,
Marci
PS:
The blog just got a bit of a makeover and my hope was to make it easier to navigate. It's still going through some tweaks but hoping it will be fully finished in the next week. Head over and take a peek when you get a moment 🥰.